The Callaghan Premiership (Labour, 1971-1977, won 1974)
The former West Indies Federal Cabinet.
The Callaghan Premiership is notable for managing several important constitutional reforms, many of which survive today. There was the introduction of "British Law", ie. law of a national basis affecting the full union of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland & Overseas Regions - and the remaining Empire overseas, as opposed to "English Law" which would continue to be used for matters specifically pertaining to English & Welsh affairs (similar to Scots Law for Scotland and Irish Law for Northern Ireland). He would also see the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, and introduction of direct rule (later replaced by the Northern Irish Assembly). Callaghan was also the Prime Minister to give the country the formal name it currently has: United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland & Overseas Regions".
The introduction of Malta, Gibraltar and the Seychelles, as well as the presence of Northern Ireland all with devolved administrations (even though suspended in the case of Northern Ireland) emboldened nationalists in Scotland and Wales, and a Royal Commission on the Constitution - later known as the Devolution Commission - was created to explore devolution within Great Britain itself. It reported back in 1975 however, advocating further devolution, predominately to Scotland, Wales and the English regions. Discussions continued over the role of the United Kingdom "East of Suez" indicated a reduction in the British role and presence in the Indian and Pacific oceans, but the situation improved when the Trucial States in the Persian Gulf agreed to opt-in to "dependency status", with the UK continuing to provide primarily defence and foreign relations in return for funding from the states, and basing rights there, although the principal British base in the area would remain at Masirah Island (Oman). This also conveniently provided justification for the Royal Navy presence in Malta and the Seychelles on the route to East-of-Suez (thereby justifying the indirect economic subsidies from the armed forces), smoothing some debates over large workforce employed in the naval dockyards and related industries. An agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand led to a shrinking of UK forces in the Indo-Pacific region, but the core joint RN-RAF base at Singapore was saved. The path ahead was clear though; more and more British colonies were becoming independent; Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago had done so in the late 1960s, Callaghan would grant independence to South Yemen, Botswana and Mauritius, and as such the British global role was shrinking... but not dead yet by any means. Retaining Singapore as a base was seen in addition as diplomatically necessary to avoid irritating the Americans and damaging a gently recovering "Special Relationship", whilst the US was embroiled in the midst of the Vietnam War, but the eastern half of the British Cypriot bases (Dhekelia) was to be handed back to Cypriot authorities with Britain only retaining the western base (Akrotiri), as part of British cost-saving efforts. Classified until later years, it also turned out that the US would part-fund the Akrotiri base in order to use an over-the-horizon radar to monitor Soviet air movements.
The collapse of the West Indies Federation in 1965 was the sad finale of the WIF. Jamaica had left in 1962 prior to attempted unification of some economical aspects, whilst Trinidad & Tobago had then left in 1964. The remaining 8 islands, then attempted to continue with British backing, but 1965 saw the final nail in the coffin; the remaining islands then became the "West Indies Associated States", under the United Kingdom once more. The successful application of the Seychelles, and later integration of that nation in to the United Kingdom, provided a new idea for many of those West Indies Associated States. Almost all were poor, with few natural resources - the few with resources had left (Jamaica with aluminium oxide & bauxite, Trinidad & Tobago with oil & gas), and following the success of the Seychelles, Barbados applied to join the United Kingdom in 1972, and like dominoes, most of the British territories in the Lesser Antilles applied. Notable exceptions to this included the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands - all saw their future in closer integration with North America. This was a combined population of approximately 700,000 people, and would almost triple the overseas population (Malta, Gibraltar, Seychelles), with little gain for the United Kingdom. The first three had clear foreign policy and defence advantages for their integration, and had a population of roughly 400,000 (320k Malta, 50k Seychelles, 30k Gibraltar). The UK saw this as an identity issue writ large; the small populations in Malta, Gibraltar and Seychelles were also largely white, and didn't particularly upset the UK demographics or balance of power in Parliament. Adding circa 700,000 people in the Caribbean would add a sizeable "Black British" demographic, and potentially add around 10 MPs to Parliament.
Critics derided the United Kingdom, especially in the United States where many labelled it as "a new era of colonialism", or some openly advocated for the United States to block it under the "Monroe Doctrine". Pro-integration voices shot back "who are you to decry democracy because you don't like the answer?", and pointed to the Caribbean-initiated discussion. Either way, it jointly split opinion in the United Kingdom and the United States, and the US wasn't going to send forces in to the Caribbean to oppose it's closest ally in world politics just after fighting in Vietnam. The election of 1974 would decide it; the tiny Liberal party backed Caribbean integration, the Conservatives opposed it "on economic and financial grounds" officially, and Labour were either split or gently supported it with reservations depending on which viewpoint you went by. The election got distasteful, with the some local Tory groups warning against a wave of Caribbean migration if Callaghan won and let the territories in, using outright racist phrases in some cases such as Smethwick (*1), and some commenting on a "river of blood from this nation" should it occur.
Despite the sagging economy, and exhaustion after 11 years of Labour rule, the Conservative party led by Heath still couldn't quite get over the line, leaving Labour the largest party - but not a majority. The Liberal party now held a dozen seats, absorbing disillusioned Labour voters. It was the first election with constituencies in Gibraltar and the Seychelles returning MPs; Gibraltar leaning firmly right for a Conservative-backing MP due to Spanish concerns. Capitalising on their "kingmaker" status, the Liberals kept Callaghan in power with a minority government - but with some key demands. One was a referendum on devolution for Scotland, based on the Ulster model (later named the Maltese Model), which duly passed in 1977, heralding the Scottish Assembly and Government as one of the last acts of the Callaghan Premiership. But the election, and quasi-victory for Callaghan (and duly backed by the Liberals), opened the door for the Caribbean territories, whilst also balancing Callaghan's 1975 Immigration Act (*2) which would substantially reduce the right-of-abode for non-UK born citizens (ie. from the colonies). By admitting the substantially black-populated Caribbean territories to the United Kingdom, even over the reservations of the Treasury, Callaghan could deflect from political accusations of direct racism with the immigration reforms, by pointing to Caribbean and their future rights to live and work in Great Britain itself. The integration process itself would be longer then previous overseas regions, with a 12 year integration plan, to slowly bring the Caribbean islands to UK standards, whilst the islands would receive 12 Members of Parliament following the work of the English Boundary Commission, given the disparities of island population, with Anguilla, St Kitts, Nevis and Montserrat all having to be merged in to a single Westminster constituency. For local government reasons, the islands would form a single Caribbean region within the United Kingdom, centred in Barbados, but with strong decentralisation to the individual islands to try and avoid the kind of political infighting seen previous in the West Indies Federation.
The escalating crisis in Northern Ireland saw the introduction of the British Army to the "province" to establish law and order. Wisely, the choice was to send over a number of the Maltese in the British Army, to work hand in hand with English/Welsh/Scottish troops on the street due to the largely Catholic Maltese soldiers. The Maltese soldiers undermined the Provisional IRA's message as "defenders of the Catholic community", and were rapidly used operationally in Catholic & nationalist areas. Peace was difficult to come by however, and despite talks held by the Northern Irish secretary, little of substance was agreed in the face of significant Republican-Unionist division of views. With Scottish devolution and Caribbean integration agreed, and governing with only Liberal support becoming increasingly difficult, Callaghan called for elections in 1977 - and promptly lost.
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(*1) We all know which election slogans, but I can't bring myself to repeat those words even in an act of fiction here. They can stay in the past where they belong.
(*2) Due to the East African Federation (mentioned in passing in earlier chapters) succeeding as Britain retreats a bit more slowly from Africa as no Suez, it also means that the expulsion of the Asians from Uganda hasn't happened here. So by 1974 and the UK deciding whether to agree to integration with the Caribbean, it hasn't already accepted tens of thousands of Ugandan Asians which makes it a little more open.
I've debated this chapter significantly, as the Caribbean islands are a significant addition to the United Kingdom and it's rather difficult to assess Government/PM attitudes to integration when this principle didn't exist in OTL post-1958. Callaghan is a bit of a dark horse as far as I can find, with both good and bad points with regards to this kind of move. Given this TL addition of Malta, Gibraltar and Seychelles, it's difficult to project GB opinions on Caribbean integration. I've let it push through here, although tried to note the unease this would have in several areas of GB society. I think the Treasury would in pretty clear terms object, given the likely expense. But from a UK point of view, it solves the quandry about how to handle the West Indies with the federation falling apart, and would be an notable holiday spot for Brits and other nationals. And for the purposes of a story / thought experiment....
